Ouch My Head Hurts....Could It Be A Cervicogenic Headache?

By Kristi Patrice Carter

Especially in the breakneck speed of life today, most of us suffer from headaches at one time or another. For some of us, headaches are minor and infrequent, generally caused by stress or fatigue. For others, they are chronic and debilitating such as migraine headaches. However, there is another form of headache that many people may be unaware of – Cervicogenic headaches, which are headaches caused by the cervical spine.

Headaches due to whiplash injury, intervertebral disc disease, progressive joint arthritis and chronic tension can all be classified as Cervicogenic headaches. This means that the major contributing factor to the headache is the cervical spine.

Regular patterns of pain that relate to the muscular trigger points in the neck and shoulder region, as well as pain in the upper spine area are considered Cervicogenic headaches. As a matter of fact, some headaches that present with pain the forehead or behind the eyes can actually be pain zones that are triggered by a Cervicogenic headache.

In layman’s terms, there are many conditions that can contribute to or be the primary cause of a Cervicogenic headache. Injury, disc misalignment, joint degeneration, muscular stress, previous neck surgery and fatigue are all contributors. Did you know that the joints which connect the top levels of the spine to the base of the skull are responsible for more than 50% of the motion of the entire head and neck region; absorbing continual amounts of repetitive stress and strain and ultimately bearing the major load of the weight of the head? It is not wonder that this region of our bodies would account for pain and headaches. People with Cervicogenic headaches often exhibit distorted or abnormal neck posture or have restricted range of neck and head motion. These abnormalities are often overcompensation by the body to reduce pain. Headaches can be triggered by neck movement, passive neck positioning, especially when extended towards the side that is prone to pain.

It is common with Cervicogenic headaches for muscular trigger points to be in the suboccipital cervical region, and in the shoulder muscles; points that can also send shooting pain to the head when they are manually or physically manipulated.

It seems that for the most part Cervicogenic headaches have been discredited or ignored by professionals because doctors have a difficult time making a diagnosis and determining proper treatment. Although Cervicogenic headaches can be caused by whiplash or injury in the upper neck, this cannot be diagnosed by clinical examination, cannot be seen with an x-ray or MRI scan. However, Cervicogenic headaches can be diagnosed via the use of diagnostic block, which is a clinical procedure that uses needles to apply local anesthetic to any joint suspected of being the source of pain. The consensus is that if a joint is the source of the headache, the anesthetic should immediately relieve the pain.

If your head hurts on a regular basis, and you suffer from headaches continually, especially if the pain seems to radiate from your spine or upper shoulder area, this may be a sign of Cervicogenic headaches. This is especially true is you have suffered trauma to your spine or neck such as whiplash or injury.